For many of us, pulsatile tinnitus begins out of the blue, for no apparent reason, but some of us experience the symptom
after an injury of some kind, and that injury turns out to be a direct cause of the whooshing. This causal link, when identified,
sometimes improves the chances of a proper and quicker diagnosis, but it's not often evaluated in medical reports.

After
the diagnosis was made via an MRA, the patient started "anticoagulation treatment" (medication) with phenprocoumon.
After 3 months, the patient was free of complaints. No more whooshing! And, after a follow-up MRA, the "lesion
of the left ICA had disappeared completely and no dissection or stenosis of the affected carotid artery could be identified."
Even after the meds were discontinued, the patient continued to be free of any neurological symptoms.

While there
is a well-known association between cervical trauma and cervical artery dissection, few medical reports explore the causes
of CAD or vertebral artery dissection and scuba diving. Interestingly, this medical report includes a selection of scuba-related
incidents of carotid artery dissection.

There are online information sites that discuss ENT issues and other
injuries related to scuba diving, but few explore pulsatile tinnitus. There are indications that some scuba divers sometime
experience the regular, more common form of tinnitus as well. I wonder if there are other pulsatile tinnitus sufferers
out there who started whooshing right after scuba diving. Maybe they, like many pulsatile tinnitus sufferers, are wrongly
told they are suffering from "regular" tinnitus when in fact they're experiencing pulsatile tinnitus, a
distinguishable and sometimes treatable form of tinnitus. Perhaps some divers with pulsatile tinnitus have not yet explored
this possible causal link with their doctors. If so, this report may be a useful guide!

I thought it was
interesting that an MRA was the diagnostic test that led to a proper diagnosis, proving -once again- that non-invasive tests
do sometimes detect underlying causes of pulsatile tinnitus. Each diagnostic test is as good as the causes it is
designed to detect, as well as the eyes that are looking at the films.

Another cured whoosher! A link to
the abstract (summary) of the report is available below. Share and review it with your doctors!

There are many, many possible underlying causes of pulsatile tinnitus; this is just one. For this and other links
to medical reports of possible -and treatable- causes, please see the Cured Whooshers page.

For more information about carotid artery dissection, see the link below: